Mind, Body, Spirit – Page 10

Celebrate Each Day with a Song ~ La Gatta

In May of 2017 I took a second trip to Italy staying for two weeks in Lucca old town. Lucca is in Tuscany Province near Pisa and about an hour from Florence. The Tuscan hills can been seen all around the city and bring cooling breezes every afternoon. The aromas of roasting coffee and jasmine in bloom will forever remind me of this spectacular region in Italy.

During the first week in Lucca, I took Italian lessons and we learned the “imperfetto” verb tense. This tense is used to express things that happened many years ago. This song by Gino Paoli, was used to teach imperfetto.

Cats are a favorite companion and what fun it was to bring this “souvenir” back home.

Here are the lyrics with English translation.

La Gatta (Italian)

C’era una volta una gatta
che aveva una macchia nera sul muso e una vecchia
soffitta vicino al mare con una finestra
a un passo dal cielo blu.
Se la chitarra suonavo
la gatta faceva le fusa ed una stellina
scendeva vicina vicina
poi mi sorrideva e se ne tornava su.

Ora non abito più là tutto è cambiato,
non abito più là ho una casa bellissima
bellissima come vuoi tu.
Ma io ripenso a una gatta
che aveva una macchia nera sul muso a una vecchia
soffitta vicino al mare con una stellina
che ora non vedo più.

La Gatta (English)

Once upon a time there was a cat
with a black spot on her muzzle and an old
attic by the sea with a window
steps away from the blue sky.
If I would play my guitar
the cat would purr and a little star
would come down really close
then it would smile and go back up again.

Now I don’t live there anymore everything has changed,
I don’t live there anymore, I have a beautiful house,
beautiful, as you want.
But I think back to a cat with a black spot on her muzzle, to an old
attic by the sea with a little star
That I don’t see anymore.

Celebrate Each Day with a Song ~ Una Paloma Blanca

Let the power of music and words overwhelm the heart and soul of each bird and beast on Earth. There’s so much to enjoy in life. Hope for a better day everyday.

George Baker and the George Baker Selection band is today’s celebrated artist with the beautiful “Una Paloma Blanca” pop hit from 1975.

A White Dove

When the sun shines on the mountains
And the night is on the run
It’s a new day, it’s a new way
And I fly up to the sun

I can feel the morning sunlight
I can smell the new-born hay
I can hear God’s voices calling
From my golden sky-light way

Una paloma blanca
I’m just a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountain I fly
No one can take my freedom away

Once I had my share of losing
Once they locked me on a chain
Yes, they tried to break my power
Oh, I still can feel the pain

Una paloma blanca
I’m just a bird in the sky
Una paloma blanca
Over the mountain I fly
No one can take my freedom away

“When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”
― Henry David Thoreau

Winter Ramblings ~ Solstice Celebration

And so it arrives today, the first day of winter. The wheel of the year turns the old Earth towards the sun once again. Hail the precious seconds at dawn and dusk when our great star creeps back into our daily lives. The dreary darkness gives way to the light. The return of the light ~ Winter Solstice.

The day is calm and warm. Snow and ice cling to the earth already. The harsh frost filled morning melts into a tranquil afternoon. On this day, celebrate simply with an offering of seeds and suet to the birds. Enjoy the blue jays, morning doves, juncos and sparrows. Welcome the chickadee and finch. Give them a free meal today. In remembrance of the Earth, put out a simple feast of cake and wine. A little something to thank her for all she gave us this year and all she will give next.

At this time of year, I always remember Thoreau and his reflections from Walden Pond.

“For sounds in winter nights, and often in winter days, I heard the forlorn but melodious note of a hooting owl indefinitely far; such a sound as the frozen earth would yield if struck with a suitable plectrum, the very lingua vernacula of Walden Wood, and quite familiar to me at last, though I never saw the bird while it was making it. I seldom open my door in a winter evening without hearing it; Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoorer hoo,” Thoreau, Walden: Winter Animals.

How pleasant to pause in the yard and hear the nuthatch ambling up the maple tree. The grey squirrels take their graceful leaps and bounds searching for food. The sun watches all low on the horizon. The river twinkles in the distance through the trees. A blessed place this is to take a rest. Now is the time for reflection on what has past and what is now and what is yet to come.

Celebrate the simple life at home with the creatures of the earth and sky. Make a sincere offering of thanks. Stay warm, stay well and blessed be.